Remember that for print versions of Wikitravel, links will be presented in all their URLish ugliness. Readers of the print versions will have to ''type in by hand'' the URL that you add. For this reason, try to use the '''shortest URL possible''' for links, even if it means a little more work on the part of the reader when they click through a link. Where possible, try to trim out "housekeeping" stuff from the URL. You can almost always leave off "index.html", "index.htm", "index.asp" or "index.php" from a link, for example.

Remember that for print versions of Wikitravel, links will be presented in all their URLish ugliness. Readers of the print versions will have to ''type in by hand'' the URL that you add. For this reason, try to use the '''shortest URL possible''' for links, even if it means a little more work on the part of the reader when they click through a link. Where possible, try to trim out "housekeeping" stuff from the URL. You can almost always leave off "index.html", "index.htm", "index.asp" or "index.php" from a link, for example.

−

If http://www.smiletoafricaadventure.com/ redirects automatically to a home page like http://www.smiletoafricaadventure.com/home/index.asp?id=384&lang=en, use the shorter version, even though it's "really" going to the long version. Similarly, if http://www.example.net/ has a "splash screen" which eventually takes you to http://www.example.net/index2.htm or something, leave the top-level link in, even though the "real information" is located elsewhere.

+

If http://www.example.com/ redirects automatically to a home page like http://www.example.com/home/index.asp?id=384&lang=en, use the shorter version, even though it's "really" going to the long version. Similarly, if http://www.example.net/ has a "splash screen" which eventually takes you to http://www.example.net/index2.htm or something, leave the top-level link in, even though the "real information" is located elsewhere.

'''Tip''': For many hotel chains, ''location''.''chain''.com works as quick and easy redirect. For example, Le Meridien Kuala Lumpur can be found at http://kualalumpur.lemeridien.com/ as well as http://www.starwoodhotels.com/lemeridien/property/overview/index.html?propertyID=1840&EM=VTY_MD_kualalumpur_1840_overview, and the short version will not break when the chain changes its reservation system (which seems to happen every few months).

'''Tip''': For many hotel chains, ''location''.''chain''.com works as quick and easy redirect. For example, Le Meridien Kuala Lumpur can be found at http://kualalumpur.lemeridien.com/ as well as http://www.starwoodhotels.com/lemeridien/property/overview/index.html?propertyID=1840&EM=VTY_MD_kualalumpur_1840_overview, and the short version will not break when the chain changes its reservation system (which seems to happen every few months).

Revision as of 21:02, 21 November 2012

External links are links to other web sites besides Wikitravel. In general the Wikitravel policy is that external links should be kept to a bare minimum, and only links to primary sources should be used. There should not be an external links section on any article.

The official web sites of cultural and educational organizations offering programs of interest to travelers, such as foreign language instruction or cooking classes.

Using only primary sources makes our guide more succinct: where there is usually one or sometimes two primary source links for any subject, there can be hundreds or thousands of secondary source links. We also avoid subjectivity and conflict. It's difficult to decide collaboratively which of the thousands of English-language newspapers, magazines, and Web sites has done the very best travel article about New York City, but it's quite easy for everyone to agree that http://www.nycvisit.com/ is the official city visitor's guide. If the destination has both an official visitor's guide and a general government site, include only the visitor guide.

What not to link to

Avoid linking to secondary sources - for example, avoid links to:

Hotel or travel booking services or aggregators

Nightlife guides and reviews in nightlife guides

Restaurant guides and reviews in restaurant guides

Blogs, forums and social networking sites (facebook, etc), with the exception of when a business has no other official web presence.

Rental cars operators, in cities where they are common (10 or more operating in the city). Typically we don't provide details of national car rental chains in local guides. Providing details at the national level, and mentioning the name and location at local level is sufficient if required.

We should avoid links to other travel guides, to ensure we have travel information in Wikitravel, not linked from Wikitravel. This is an incentive issue; if we have lots of links to other travel guides, we lose the impetus to create our own. In addition, one of our goals is to produce a guide useful for printing or offline use, and therefore we need information to be within the article rather than linked to at another site. See also the "Avoid references to third-party ratings and rankings unless they are truly exceptional" rule in Wikitravel:Don't tout.

We also do not provide links to source information or provide references—travel guides do not use footnotes!

External link format

There are three possible formats for "external" links. For the sake of consistency, we only use the first:

Good

Example, [1]. To create a footnote style external link the syntax is [http://www.example.com/].

Note that "http://" is included in the link. The software won't recognize a link if the "http://" is missing from a link.

External link usage

Official destination links: If an official web site exists for the destination then it should be linked to only once, within the first sentence of the article, immediately after the name of the destination. Only primary links should be used; a web site that is not maintained by the destination would not be appropriate. For example, in the Disneyland article, a link to http://www.disneyland.com/and only to that web site is appropriate.

In-article text links: Links within the article text should be kept to a minimum and should point only to primary sources. Examples of valid links might include airline companies, bus companies, and sites offering daily updates and warnings about a destination's condition

Further guidelines

Don't mislead

What the reader expects to be at the end of a link, should be at the end of the link. A link to a service provider web page, where permitted by policy, should always be preceded by a mention of the service providers name in the text.

Use short readable links

Remember that for print versions of Wikitravel, links will be presented in all their URLish ugliness. Readers of the print versions will have to type in by hand the URL that you add. For this reason, try to use the shortest URL possible for links, even if it means a little more work on the part of the reader when they click through a link. Where possible, try to trim out "housekeeping" stuff from the URL. You can almost always leave off "index.html", "index.htm", "index.asp" or "index.php" from a link, for example.

Don't use links to redirection services, such as tinyurl, just to make the links shorter.

Languages

This version of Wikitravel is for English-language speakers (but see language versions of Wikitravel), so links should go to English versions of sites when possible. However, official primary links should always be added, even if they're not in English: some travellers can read the local language or decipher it with online translation, other travellers will still find pictures, maps, schedules, prices handy, and they may be updated to include English in the future.

Many sites have the information in several languages, e.g., the local language and English. They handle this in different ways:

Some use the browser's language preference in which case you just use a link to the main page. This has the advantage that if a non-English speaker uses the English Wikitravel and follows a link to a page also available in his/her language, the right version will be displayed. You will have to set you browser's language preference to English to test if there is an English version or you can enter the URL in a proxy such as Proxify. You can check the language preference of your browser, also.

Some sites have a main page in a non-English language with a cryptic link to an English page, such as http://travel.example.com/fff?349sdshd.asp. This might not be a permanent link, so it is better to use the URL of the main page and let Wikitravel users find the current link to the English version.

Unpack links

A link is not a substitute for actual information. Our goals include creating pages useful as printed guides. So, we need to include information that's at the other end of a link, even if it may seem redundant for on-line use.

For example, in a restaurant listing, get the address, phone number, hours, and prices for the restaurant, even if it's right there on an external Web page. Someone using a printed guide won't have access to whatever's on that page.

Print version

When Wikitravel articles are printed the Wikitravel stylesheets are set up so that the full URL of a link will appear in text enclosed in parentheses immediately after the link text. For example, an attraction listing would print as:

Special cases

Open Directory Project

We have a special format that features links to the Open Directory Project in a special part of the page - see Links to Open Directory.

Wikipedia

We have a special format that features links to Wikipedia in a special part of the page - see Links to Wikipedia.

World66

As Wikitravel is merging with World66, we have a special relationship with it that justifies an exception to the rule against linking to other guides. We have a special format that features links to World66 in a special part of the page - see Links to World66.

Weather forecasts

Providing a link to a weather forecast for the destination is okay. Such links are often placed in the text field of Template:Climate. You can use Template:ForecastNOAA to link to the NOAA forecast if the destination is in the United States.

See also

Tour listings - Guidelines on when it is appropriate to list a tour company on Wikitravel.